Nier Automata: The Last Dream
by 336
Summary: Everything that lives is designed to end... Including the human race. (Takes place before the events of Nier Automata, but after the events of Nier Replicant.)
1. Machines Don't Dream

Moonlight shone down into an open missile silo. The steel walkways and ladders inside surrounded an unfinished nuclear missile, the top half of which was missing and showed the inner workings of the device. The bodies of long dead machines and human soldiers littered the area around it, signifying that a battle had once taken place here. Now, however, the silo was as silent as a grave.

"OW! DAMMIT!"

Or at least it was, until a loud clatter echoed through the complex along with the sound of someone swearing.

The source of the noise was a man who had just dropped a large, square metal sheet onto his foot on accident. He looked to be somewhere in his early twenties, and was wearing a light brown leather jacket over a black shirt along with a pair of blue jeans that matched the color of his eyes. His hair was short, ruffled, and a dirty blonde. Intense pain was welling up in his face, which had grown an unkempt but short beard.

This man's name was Noah, and he was human.

Noah clutched his foot as sat down, joining the metal sheet he'd dropped on the cold steel floor. He breathed in, putting pressure on his foot, then exhaled in relief as he determined that nothing was broken. That would have been really bad. Breaking anything can spell doom for anyone living in this world.

After taking a few seconds to cope with the pain, Noah stood back up and walked over to the metal sheet. He bent over, picked it up, and continued his previous course towards the center of the silo. At the base of the missile, there was a large rectangular platform that held a toolbox. When he reached it, Noah placed the sheet onto the lift, then went to a control panel at the edge of it. The lift hummed to life as he pressed a few buttons. A blue glow flickered into existence at the bottom of the platform, and it started to rise to the top of the missile.

The ride up was slow and smooth. Noah silently wished it would go faster, but rushing it might cause the lift's battery to drain faster, and power was in short supply. Once at the top, the platform stopped, then started moving to the side until it came to a spot where the shell of the missile had yet to be constructed.

Noah picked up the sheet again, and placed it onto the frame of the missile. He smiled widely as the sheet fit in perfectly, then bent down and rummaged through his toolbox. Not a moment later he held a blow-torch and had placed a welding mask on his face.

A small flame appeared at the end of the torch, and Noah went to work welding the sheet of metal into place. Many minutes passed as Noah made sure to attach it perfectly. He then turned the torch off, removed the mask from his face, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Well… I guess that's that," Noah said, looking upwards. The moon was full tonight, and was drifting across the night sky without a care in the universe. That was the last stronghold against the machines, the last safe place, and the last place he'd find another being like himself.

Noah would transform this missile into a rocket, blast himself to the moon, and tell Earth to kiss his ass. This was what his parents had dreamt of their entire lives, and now, Noah was going to see that dream through.

"Just hold on a little longer everyone. I'm coming home."


	2. Demetree

Long ago, aliens attacked Earth. And they won.

Mankind fought hard, but the enemy's machines were destructive, powerful, and ruthless. Eventually humanity's numbers dwindled, and they faced a simple choice: run or die. They decided to run to the only place left available to them: the moon.

But not everyone made it.

For a reason lost to time, some of the humans were left behind. The majority were hunted down and slaughtered by the machines, but a small handful of humans figured out how to survive in the world they were stuck in. They posed as androids and hid away, never to be discovered by anyone ever again. They were few in number, however, and they soon discovered that they had only delayed the inevitable.

Now, it was just Noah. A single man standing alone in a planetwide graveyard.

Noah pushed against the large steel door that marked the entrance of the missile silo. As it opened, a huge gust of wind came up, showering his face with sand. Sunlight was also pouring in, and it was a little too warm for his liking.

"Here we go again," Noah said, taking a worn, brown stetson and a pair of dusty goggles out from his desert-camo backpack. He put them on his head and pulled a red scarf over his face before pushing the door all the way out.

He was greeted with the sight of a massive sandstorm, which blew across the seemingly endless dunes of the desert that surrounded him. Supposedly this place had once been a vast pine forest, but now it was covered by a sandy desert that seemed to choke the life out of everything that entered it.

Noah stepped onto the concrete sidewalk that outlined the entire complex, then walked to the right. Not far from the entrance, a military hoverbike was sitting on the ground. The bike's design was like a regular bike's, except that three large thrusters sat on the back, and the wheels were replaced by two high powered, down facing fans.

To add to its difference, long twin plasma guns were also attached to the front. Its sand-colored paint had almost all been worn off, making it a dirty grey. On top of that, it was pretty banged up from use in combat. Several bullet holes and scorch marks covered its sides. Despite its age, however, this vehicle was reliable, and had gotten Noah out of more than one hairy situation.

He stepped onto it and swung his leg over the hoverbike's seat. Noah then sat down and turned the keys that had been left in the ignition. The bike's fans sputtered to life, lifting it into the air. Noah grabbed the handles and steered it away from the silo. Using a compass, he navigated his way through the sandstorm.

Crossing the desert was risky. Machines made to live in this environment were constantly tunneling through the sand, killing anything unfortunate enough to cross their path. And you couldn't see what was underground until it was too late.

To many of the human survivors, including his father, had been torn apart due to carelessness in places like these. Luckily the machines in these parts mostly saw through tremors in the ground, and hoverbikes don't cause noticeable tremors, especially in dusty weather that blew everything around.

After two hours of travel, Noah could finally see the edge of the sandstorm. He sped up, coming free of the storm, and was immediately presented with a sensory overload of color. Ahead was a jungle of trees, flowers, rivers, and waterfalls that blanketed the land and tall mountains.

Compared to the endless sand of the desert, this place looked like the god of beauty had vomited all over it. Even so, this wasn't a place to be sight seeing. Machine patrols were double here due to the presence of the Resistance, an organization comprised of obsolete androids who fight 'For the Glory of Mankind,' as the saying went. Years ago, this had sounded like a godsend. His mother had thought that the Resistance could help get them to the moon…

Noah shook his head. He'd have to put those memories aside if he was going to get what he needed.

The hoverbike's fans started to spin a little faster, and Noah flew up over the tree line. The branches of the trees swayed as he crossed the top of the forest. The entire time Noah made sure to keep an eye out for machine patrols, but to his surprise, he spotted none. Usually he'd have to dodge and weave through several of them. He was getting lucky today. Too lucky, perhaps.

Noah didn't have to travel far to reach the Resistance stronghold. They were based in the ruins of a small town named Bozeman, which he had just reached the edge of. Bozeman covered an entire valley, but didn't have any skyscrapers. Instead there were a lot of multi-story apartments, restaurants, gas stations, and single family homes. All of them had been blown to smithereens, or broken down and overgrown with vines and moss. He headed for the center of the town towards a building that had once been a school of some sort.

It was probably the largest building in the valley. Or at least, had been. Most of it had been blown away. The school still made for the perfect base, however, as it had open spaces surrounding it on all sides, provided a decent view of the entire town, and still had a lot of space inside for storage. The building was mostly square concrete with several wooden supports that had probably looked nice at one point. Through the giant glass panes of the entrance, he could see two humanoid figures standing guard.

Conveniently, humans looked like androids. Or rather, androids looked like humans. At a first glance, you couldn't tell the difference. There were three key ways to tell, however.

Firstly and most obviously, androids could not display emotion correctly, and some even chose to toss feelings aside entirely. Secondly, both androids and machines give off a specific signature that both sides can track. Noah didn't give off a signature, since nothing was scanning for biological lifeforms. And the final difference was the eyes. Android eyes were all grey, glassy, and cold. If anyone spotted his eyes, it would be all over.

Noah landed a few yards from the entrance and got off his hoverbike. He then opened a hatch in the side of the bike and took out a revolver, a katana that had 'Made in China' shallowly etched into the blade, a hunting rifle loaded with anti-machine bullets, and an EMP grenade.

He was hoping he wouldn't have to use any of this, but in this world, there was no such thing as too careful. He slung the hunting rifle over his shoulder, clipped the katana to his belt, hid the grenade in his pocket, and holstered the revolver before walking towards the entrance of the Resistance camp.

One of the two guards, a young man with black hair, wearing a grey hoodie over a white T-shirt with matching sweatpants, exited the complex to meet him. "Hello S4. Are you here for supplies again?" He asked.

S4 was Noah's cover name. The S meant Scout, so it made sense that he'd be a loner in the middle of the desert.

"Yes. I'm here for supplies. And to trade." Noah replied, trying to sound monotone, but not too monotone.

"Good. Come inside." The android turned and walked into the building. Noah made sure to adjust his goggles and pull down his scarf before following him in.

The inside of the Resistance base was covered in overgrown vegetation, cracks in the mortar and concrete, and rusted lockers and doors. The checkered floors, however, were completely clear of any rubble or debris, and were ample walkways for the androids that filled the place.

Besides the one Noah was following, all the androids were standing to the sides, all of them stock-still. Their creepy, inhuman eyes silently followed him throughout the hallways of the school until he came to the courtyard

The courtyard was filled with several tents containing supplies. To the right was the medical tent where the damaged androids got repaired. The beds were currently empty, and the nurse, a female with long orange hair named M6, was taking inventory over her 'medicine.' To the left was the supply tent, which was filled with just about everything you needed to survive out here. All except food and water, of course.

That wasn't were Noah was heading though. Instead they walked past those two tents towards the large war tent in the middle, as it was apparently protocol for non-Resistance members to meet with the Resistance leader before doing anything. This had to be done every time, and it was always the most nerve-wracking part of the trip.

The android guiding him stopped. "Here you are. Demetree in inside."

Noah nodded, then entered the tent.

The tent contained very little in the way of decoration. The only thing visible besides the brown cloth walls was a holographic pool table that had been repurposed to display a war map, which currently showed a light blue image of the entire town. Yellow dots scattered around the blue landscape represented androids, and red dots represented machines. Fortunately there were no red dots at the moment. Standing behind the pool table looking it over was Demetree.

Demetree was the leader of the Resistance, and was probably the single most terrifying android Noah had ever met. He was wearing a brown vest, no shirt, and baggy black jeans. Synthetic dark green hair covered half his face, and was shaved bald on the other half.

At first glance, Demetree looked like a rebellious teenager who was going through a phase. He was a deviant android though. Not only could he hold an intelligent conversation, but he'd actually given himself a proper name. If there was anyone in this place that could find out he was human, it was Demetree.

"Greetings S4. Back from the desert I assume? Any luck with scavenging?" Demetree said, crossing his arms and giving Noah a warm smile.

"Some," Noah replied. "But I'm running low on power in my hoverbike and home. I've come here to see If I can acquire an ion reactor."

"I see." Demetree walked out from behind the pool table and stood in front of Noah. "May I inquire as to what for? We both know that an ion reactor is too powerful to keep those up and running."

"I've found a very large home," Noah stated calmly. He needed the ion reactor to power the missile silo, so there was no way he could tell Demetree. If the androids found out that he was trying to fire a nuclear missile at the moon… Well. It wouldn't be good, even if he explained the context behind the entire operation. "And you wouldn't believe how much I use my bike for scouting."

"Really now? Well that's certainly convenient. This place is a little crowded. If it's that big then we could probably set up another base there. It would be great if you gave me it's location." Demetree said casually.

Noah's eye twitched under his goggles. That wasn't information he could give away, but he still needed the Resistance to trust him. This is what made talking to Demetree so dangerous.

"S4?" Demetree tilted his head.

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry, I was just thinking that over." Noah pulled his scarf over his face again to hide that he was nervous. "If my home was useful to the Resistance, I'd let you know right away. Unfortunately it doesn't have much in the way's of defense and has a… large hole in the roof. It's a good place for one person to hide, but not for many people to stay. I mostly want to power it up so that I can look at whatever files it's computer is keeping. See if it has any potentially valuable information."

There was a long pause. Demetree appeared to be lost in thought, which made Noah even more anxious than he already was. His hand twitched down to his pocket where he kept the EMP grenade.

If Demetree didn't buy this story and asked further questions, Noah might lose their trust, and the chances of his humanness being discovered would increase dramatically. At that point, he might have to fight his way out. Considering that he was rather squishy compared to an android, that could very well prove impossible.

"Huh," Demetree said finally. "That must be some hole."

"Huge," Noah replied.

"Indeed." Demetree turned and walked back to the pool table. "I'm glad to say we actually have an ion reactor in stock."

"That's good to hear. How much will it cost?" Noah asked, relieved that he'd managed to dodge that bullet.

"All it will cost you is a quick scouting mission." Demetree said, doing a few waving motions with his hands over the pool table. The holographic image of the valley was replaced by one of the entire forest and some of the desert. "I'm sure an S model like you can handle that, right?"

Shit. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. An android's definition of a quick scouting mission almost always involved a mad hack-and-slash through enemy territory, and the machines were designed specifically to kill humans. Even so, if Noah was to get that reactor, he'd have to comply. He'd just have to play it safe and smart. Well… At least the smart part. Nothing he did was safe.

"Of course. What am I looking for?" Noah asked.

"A day ago we sent out a group to investigate some strange signals coming from the desert. We lost contact with them, but before we did they reported seeing machines… Acting strangely." Demetree explained.

"Strangely?" Noah inquired. All machines were hooked up to an alien network, which made them easily controllable. Every move they made was intentional, and without error. Strange behavior could mean a multitude of things, and none of them good.

"They failed to clarify." Demetree waved his hand again and a large red dot appeared around thirty miles into the desert. "This is where we lost contact."

"Alright then. I'll bring them back, don't you worry." Noah turned to leave, but was stopped by a word from Demetree.

"Worry?"

Noah's blood ran cold. Had he just screwed himself over!? Dammit!

"S4…" Demetree began. There was a kind of robotic strain to his voice. "...I'm far beyond worry. We're all brothers-in-arms here. Losing anyone to those monstrous machines is something I cannot allow."

Noah was silent for a second, then turned to face Demetree again. He stuck his left arm out to the side, and then bent his forearm inwards so that his hand lay over his chest. This was a sort of salute the androids had developed. "Glory. To Mankind."

Demetree returned the salute. "Glory. To Mankind."

Noah exited the tent. Then, as soon as Demetree couldn't see him, he started hurriedly walking away.

"Woah S4!" A muscular, orange haired, lumberjack looking android shouted over to him as he rushed past. "Not even gonna look at our stock this time?!"

"Sorry T13! Urgent matters!" Noah's walk turned into a run, and he sped down the hallways, past all the guards, and out of the building as fast as he could.

Noah reached his bike and slammed both of his hands down onto the top of it. Sweat was trickling down his forehead, and his breathing was out of control. He popped open one of the compartments in his bike and yanked out a canteen, of which he opened and drained of water. After Noah confirmed it was empty, he gave out a small chuckle.

"Alright Demetree. Not bad," Noah whispered, grinning widely. "Not bad for a worthless piece of scrap metal."


	3. Malfunction Junction

Noah waited, concealed behind a sand dune as a machine patrol passed by just under a mile away. There wasn't currently a storm blowing through the area, so the chances of him being spotted were higher than usual. Luckily, nothing in this world was scanning for organic lifeforms anymore, meaning that all he had to do was stay out of sight and keep quiet.

He watched as the several small machines, who were all essentially light brown, clunky, humanoid trashcans with giant axes, walked alongside a giant machine of similar design. It had two thin legs, a comically tiny head, and two giant arms that were way too big for it's body.

Noah had come to call these machines punchers, mainly because that's what they did. Punch things to a pulp. 'Hey, we're super high-tech aliens. Let's make a giant robot that, instead of having a massive death cannon or something, just punches stuff real hard.' Noah thought to himself.

The machine patrol clambered over the mounds of sand, their eyes slowly scanning the terrain as their circular heads rotated from side to side. Noah waited for the stomping of the machines to fade before he peeked out, seeing nothing but sand and a blue sky. All clear. Noah restarted his hover bike, then took off, zooming in the opposite direction of the patrol.

The location Demetree had provided was only a few sand dunes away. Usually when androids lost contact with one another, it meant they were destroyed. Noah was expecting a massive, crater-filled battlefield with mechanical body parts laying everywhere.

Noah drove over a dune, and stopped at the top of it. Ahead was a small hamlet consisting of two rows of four buildings each with a single dirt road running between them. The buildings were all wooden and old looking, but undamaged.

He took out his hunting rifle and zoomed in with his scope. To his surprise, there wasn't a single sign of a fight. He could, however, see the tracks of both machines and androids near the entrance of the place. There was also a large wooden picket sign that had 'WElcOmE to MuLLbUry' hastily scribbled on it.

This entire thing was giving off intense warning signals to Noah. He didn't know what was happening, and if there is one thing that you needed to avoid, it was the unknown. That being said, he currently needed to know the unknown. Noah set down his hover bike and turned it off. He stepped off of it, and cautiously walked down the sand dune, scanning the entire area with his rifle as he went.

As Noah got closer, he thought he caught a faint sound drifting through the air. Sure enough, when he reached the edge of Mullbury, he could hear a piano playing a light-hearted, casual melody. The music was coming from the building labeled 'SaLooN.'

"The hell…" Noah whispered as he approached the Saloon. After stepping onto the wooden porch of the building, he slung his rifle over his shoulder and drew his revolver. He quietly inched to the side of the entrance, and peeked around the corner.

The Saloon was full of small machines, all human sized or smaller. Most of them were dressed in clothes that didn't fit around their bulky bodies, like stetsons, vests, and spurred cowboy boots. Some of them sat around circular tables playing cards, while others sat at the bar at the back of the building holding beer bottles and simulating being drunk.

Noah could only stare on completely baffled. The killing machines that had nearly wiped out humankind were having fun at a bar.

"HOWDeee PartNER!"

He whipped out his revolver and turned around to point it at whatever had just said that. Over his gun, Noah found himself staring at a short, stubby machine. It was wearing a loosely fitting black three-piece suit with an ascot tie. A large, thin top hat sat on top of it's disproportionately huge oval head, a fake mustache was stuck on it's face over the place where a person's mouth would be (since machines didn't have mouths), and it had white eyes instead of red. It was almost adorable.

Almost.

"WoAH TheRe StrANGER!" The machine said, putting his hands up. 'WatCH wHEre yOU PoinT ThAT ThaNG!" It said with a thick western yet robotic accent.

Noah's trigger finger twitched, but didn't fire. His eye's narrowed in anger. "What the hell? Are you the mayor or something?" He asked menacingly.

"YEs. ALLow me TAh... INtrODUCE mAhSELF." The machine said. "MY NaME is FLinT. AH Am iN FacT thE MAyoR oF tHiS ToWN." There was a brief moment of silence before Flint continued. "NoW NoW, yOU CAn CalM DOWn. WE DoN' MEan YOu NO HArm."

Noah quickly cocked the hammer on his revolver back. "Bullshit! We're at war! How stupid do you think I am? This is the most obvious trap I've ever seen!"

"WE'vE dIsCOnnecTED FROm ThE NETWork." Flint put his hands down and regained some of his posture. "YeS. All YoU AnDroiDS hAvE EveRY ReAsON TO DoUBT Us. An If YA Don' WAnnA wALK IN ThErE, YA Don HAvE TAh. WE're NoT PLayIn ThAT PIanO THouGH."

Flint was right. Machines only had three clunky fingers, so if one were to somehow get the urge to play the piano, they'd only be able to play some extremely simple songs (Or break the keys trying). The music Noah was hearing, however, way too complex for the player to be a machine. It was also surprisingly decent.

On top of that, none of the robots here had the red eyes one normally saw on alien machines. Instead they had innocent, beady white ones, and if Noah didn't know better, he'd say they were filled with curiosity. He'd also never encountered robots wearing actual clothes before. In every sense, this was a first. Would the Network really be able to come up with something as absurd as this?

On the other hand, the piano playing could just be a recording, and the Network could've developed one batshit malfunction.

Noah eye's locked with Flint's, and he considered his options and weighed their risk. A minute of intense staring ensued between the two. Neither of them moved an inch, and the background noise of drunk machines and music faded. Even the wind seemed to stand still. Noah's eyes narrowed, then he twirled his revolver in his hand and raised his arm a bit.

Flint gave out a mechanical sigh of relief, to which Noah abruptly stopped his twirl and pointed the gun into the air, causing Flint to freeze again. Though the machine couldn't see it through the scarf, Noah smirked, then slammed his gun back into it's holster.

"Ok, Flint. Let's see just how peaceful this little place is," he said snidely.

"TrOUblE wiLL OnlY CoME to YoU IF YoU MaKe It." Flint said, tipping his hat and turning to walk away. His head, however, didn't spin with his body, and kept staring at Noah. "OH! AnD, WaTcH OuT FoR kid… HE is ROWWWWDYYYYY!" Flint's head spun around three times as he crossed the street.

"What the absolute fuck have I gotten myself into..." Noah muttered in cautious amazement. He entered the Saloon, pushing aside the two small doors and pulling his scarf from his mouth. Noah immediately regretted this decision, however, as the music stopped playing and all the machines stopped what they were doing to turn and look at him in unison.

There was a moment of silence as their white, emotionless eyes glared at him. Then the bartender, a machine wearing a white vest with a fashionable mustache plastered to it's face, spoke up. " _Say, you part of the Resistance?_ " It said in a monotone voice, completely devoid of accent.

Noah blinked twice before stepping back once and putting his hands in his pockets. "Y-Yes. I am. Where else would-"

He was then cut off by two things. The first was the sight of the piano player, which he'd just now noticed. She was an android, which explained how she was able to even play the piano, and was wearing a particularly fancy blood red dress that went down to her ankles. Her long hair matched the color of the dress perfectly, and was drawn back up into a ponytail.

She still sat in front of the piano with her hands, covered by pristine white elbow high gloves, still hovering over the keys, and her glassy grey eyes were staring at Noah with alarm.

The second thing was the bartender yelling: "All drinks on the house!" And the entire room of machines tossing their drinks up into the air screaming: " _Yeehaw… Yeehaw… Yeehaw…_ "

The machines clambered out of their seats and started shuffling their way towards Noah.

"Woah, hey! Cut it out!" Noah said as the machines all started to grab him. He struggled, knocking a few of the small ones away before being pushed to the ground. The mob of metal didn't seem to care that he was resisting as they hoisted a protesting Noah up onto their shoulders and carried him to the bar. They then tossed him roughly onto a stool, which hurt a lot, and started parading around the room, tossing around beer bottles as they went.

Noah sat up, rubbing his head and adjusting his goggles, before jumping at the sound of a large mug being slammed down on the counter in front of him. It was full of a clear, fizzy liquid and was a particular shade of yellow that Noah did not associate with the word 'consumable'.

" _So, what type are you? A? T? S? Oh, I've been meaning to ask, is there one for Z? I think Z would be-_ "

"Okay, no," Noah said, interrupting the bartender.

"Yes. There will be time for pointless questions later." Noah turned to see the android in the red dress walk up behind him, the sound of heels on wood accompanying her. "For now, I believe he wants to talk to me."

"Does talking to you involve being beaten down, carried across a room, and tossed onto a barstool?" Noah asked sarcastically.

"Why would I do that?" The android asked, tilting her head.

"Good. You're sane. Have a seat." Noah said.

The android gave him a weird look before she sat down next to him. "Did Demetree send you?"

"My name is S4. I was sent to investigate the disappearance of a group of androids." Noah explained. "Were you a part of that group?"

"My name is A6, and yes, I was a part of that group." A6 said.

Noah grabbed the mug in front of him and started inspecting it closely to keep himself from freaking out. A stood for Advance. Advance units were famous for tearing through hordes of machines without receiving a scratch themselves. Their strength and speed was unmatched by any other single unit. Whenever a Goliath class machine (basically anything the size of a large skyscraper or bigger) popped up, they were the ones deployed to deal with it.

"We were traveling across the desert in an attempt to find the source of the signals when we were attacked by machines. These machines, however, were all dressed like the ones before you, and their speech processors were malfunctioning. We were winning up until an android appeared. He was an A unit, like us, but faster and stronger. He wiped the entire squad out in fifty-two seconds," A6 said.

"Wait… Your entire squad was made up of A unit's, right?" Noah asked.

"Yes." A6 confirmed.

"How many?"

"Six, counting myself."

Noah took a sip of the liquid given to him by the bartender. It tasted like shit and burned in his throat. He had no idea what alcoholic drinks tasted like, but judging from what he'd heard from his father about humans loving the stuff, this probably wasn't it, so he figured he should stop drinking before he poisoned himself, if he hadn't already.

"What are you doing? That'll jam up your systems!" A6 said with alarm.

"I have no fucking idea anymore," Noah replied.

"Wait, you're that Scout unit that lives in the middle of the desert and is slowly deteriorating, aren't you?" A6 asked.

"Does that explanation justify what I just did?" Noah asked.

"Yes…" A6 confirmed.

"Good. Please continue." Noah said.

"Very well." A6 hesitated before continuing. "I'm not sure exactly how he did it, but as he was destroying my comrades, he started heating up and glowing orange. The last thing I remember was a whirlwind of destruction, then nothing. Then, I came to in this town wearing this dress. You've seen how the residents act so I won't explain that to you. Flint managed to convince me to not obliterate the town, and having no way to escape, I ended up becoming the piano player. I've been stuck with these guys ever since."

"Stuck with them huh?" Noah looked back at the partying machines around him. They had a conga line going, and one of them was chugging a beer bottle (Pouring the yellow liquid all over his face and saying "Gulp, Gulp, Gulp"). He then turned back to A6. "I'm so sorr- Wait. Did you just say you couldn't escape?"

"Yes. They're some kind of barrier around the entire town. I cannot get through it." A6 explained.

"That's not right. I just walked-" Noah froze suddenly, then got up from his seat and darted out of the Saloon before anyone could react. He charged down the dirt path towards his speeder bike, but as he reached the edge of the town, Noah was met with a face full of pain as he ran headlong into an invisible wall and fell down. The wall lit up in a brilliant blue hexagonal pattern, briefly revealing a dome shield that circled the entire town.

"UGH! No dammit!" Noah got back up and started punching the shield, only to stop immediately, realizing that there was no way he was gonna be able to punch his way out.

"S4! What are you-" A6 was running up behind Noah, and saw him reach for his revolver. "No, don't!"

Noah whipped out his revolver and fired. It's muzzle flashed blue as the bullet shot out, then ricocheted off the shield and flew into one of the building's windows behind him, shattering it. "Ah shit," Noah swore. He was lucky that thing hadn't just come back and hit him instead.

"I've tried. A malfunctioning Scout model like you couldn't breach it." A6 said, placing a hand on Noah's shoulder to make him stop.

Noah didn't stop, and instead holstered his weapon and brushed A6's hand away. "Don't touch me!" He then spotted a rusty shovel propped up against the side of one of the buildings and ran for it, panic welling up in his chest as he did so.

Not only had he left all his food and water in his hoverbike, but now he was trapped in a town full of insane machines who could choose to kill him at any time.

"S4…"

Noah charged back with a roar, raising the shovel above his head, running past A6, and swinging down onto the shield. The shovel broke. "Fuck!"

A6 could only watch as Noah started running back and forth from the shield. He broke a pitchfork, hit the shield with his katana a couple times, kicked it a couple more times, and even rammed the shield with a sturdy looking unused board, which failed to do anything and only caused Noah to run into the shield again.

Eventually Noah slumped down, laying his back against the shield and sighing in defeat. A6 walked up next to him. "When we get back to base, you are going in for repairs." She said.

"Well god fucking dammit." Noah replied.


	4. Loss

Food. Water. Two things this world of metal was almost devoid of.

Androids and machines can run almost indefinitely and need no constant fuel source to keep them running. As such, they can devote all their time to fighting the ever constant machine threat. They could get stuck in a cage for years on end and come out perfectly fine. Humans, of course, have no such luxury.

Three days without water. One week without food. That was the limit. Anything past that and Noah would drop dead. It was a major design flaw, one that mother nature was quite fond of.

Noah was not.

Starving was painful. Having your stomach eat away at your insides, keeping you awake and alert at all times, clouding your mind with nothing but obtaining sustenance. Those are the times when you are most vulnerable, and most likely to do something stupid.

Dehydration was quicker, but the same level of harshness. You can function one day without water, but halfway through your second day everything goes off the deep end. Your muscles cramp up, you become delirious, and on top of that it feels like you've swallowed a metric ton of sand and bashed your head in with a hammer.

Fuck that.

Noah had contemplated death way too many times to count, but had always reached the same conclusion. He'd rather not die. And if he was gonna have to, it would be in a blaze of glory, not some humiliating way slowly withering like a leaf as insane machines danced around him pretending to get drunk.

'Look at this idiot!' Human settlers from the moon would say sometime in the future when the found his body. 'Of all the things that could have killed him on this hellhole he up and died of thirst. HA!'

Luckily, it didn't look like he was gonna die from that this time.

"So let me get this straight," Noah said. "The android who attacked your squad leads an army of disconnected machines who call themselves Bandits, wears all black, has been harassing this town for months…" He paused, smiling to himself. "...and named himself Kid?"

Noah and A6 had returned to the Saloon and sat down at a table to resume their previous conversation. Through conversing with the machines of Mullbury, A6 had discovered the identity of her attacker, and that she'd been brought here by him. Why? Seemingly no reason at all. No one knew why Kid was doing all of this. Mullbury's best guess was that he was malfunctioning.

"Yes," A6 confirmed. "We need to warn Demetree. Kid is too dangerous for us to take on ourselves. Can you get through to him?"

"I can't do that while the shield is up. It's blocking all communication," Noah lied. "Nothing penetrates it, physical or radio."

"Are you sure that your communications chip isn't damaged or something?" A6 asked.

"You're one to talk. Where the hell is yours?" Noah countered.

A6 hesitated, but only for a moment. "It was gone when I woke up. I'm assuming that Kid took it. It wouldn't be able to reach all the way to Demetree anyways. It was just for communicating with my teammates. You're a Scout model. Yours is the one we need."

"It's intact and fully functioning." Noah confirmed. "I know I'm literally a hermit living in the middle of a desert, and everyone back at base thinks I've gone off the deep end, but I at least know when something is working and when something isn't, alright?"

"Good. I'm glad to hear you can still function somewhat normally," A6 said, her calm, calculated expression unchanging.

Noah glared at her with disdain.

"You should turn off your emotions. It makes the mission easier," She commented.

"Hell no!" Noah replied, making it evident that he was offended.

"So this means that the Resistance isn't actually on it's way?" The bartender asked.

"With that shield up, no one's going anywhere," Noah confirmed.

All the machines in the saloon had gathered around the table, listening in to the conversation. At Noah's words, all of them slumped over and groaned, their celebratory mood stamped on.

"Hey. No sweat. We just have to find a way to take down the shield. Any ideas?" Noah asked.

"I've already done a full perimeter sweep. Whatever's powering it isn't inside." A6 said.

"And it's remote controlled by Kid. You won't find an on/off switch laying around." One of the random machines said.

"WEll, Kid sToPS By ocCAsiOnAlly." Everyone turned to Flint, who had just entered the saloon. The machines tipped their stetsons to him, and he tipped his top hat back. "YA'll cAn GiT iN JUs' FINe, bUT yAH hAvE TAh diSAbLe tHe sHieLd TAh GiT OUt. Kid hAS TAh dO ThAt TAh LeAvE. THaT's yER ChANCe." He said as he walked up to the table.

"And I'm sure he'll just let me stroll out once he takes it down," Noah said sarcastically.

"I wouldn't bet on it," A6 replied.

"Sarcasm, A6." A6 gave Noah another weird look. "We need a plan."

"Kid doesn't know you exist," The bartender said. "We could hide you near the edge of the shield, then you can get out once he disables it to leave."

"NO. NOt nEAr THe edGE." Flint said. "ThAt wOUlD bE tOO oBvIOuS. Kid'D sEE hIm. S4 sHouLD HidE iN ThE SchOOl. It'S tHE BuILdinG cLoSeSt TAh ThE ShIEld."

"School?" Noah raised an eyebrow.

"YeS, thAT's whERE Ah WaS WhiLe Ya'LL wERE pArtYin'." Flint explained. "ClaSS StiLL WaSn't OvEr."

"Wait, the Mayor is a student?" Noah asked.

"Teacher, actually," A6 corrected.

"Ah tEAch ThiNGs LikE emOTIOn, An' HoW TAh aCT prOPerLy." Flint puffed out his chest proudly.

"Happiness is amazing," One of the machines said in an ironically monotone voice.

Noah snickered. "Right. Let's get to it. As long as I'll be able to get out, I'll be fine."

"ThEn Ah'LL ShoW YaH aRouND." Flint gestured for Noah to follow.

The crowd of machines dispersed. Flint, Noah, and A6 all got up to walk out the door. There were now machines walking the street outside. Most of them were small and were chasing each other around playing tag or pretend shooting with toy pistols. Noah guessed that these were supposed to be children.

A few, however, were wearing large multicolored silk bows that had been plastered to their heads, and several varieties of old, shredded women's cloths. They stood and sat unmoving on the porches of the buildings, but their eyes followed the children wherever they went.

"What is sweat?" A6 asked Noah as they walked down the street.

"What?" Noah said, the question catching him off-guard.

A6 gave him that weird look again. "You said 'No sweat' earlier. I think I have the meaning understood, but I am still confused as to what this sweat thing is."

Oh, that was right. Mechanical beings, even ones with biological components, didn't sweat. Noah mentally slapped himself for slipping up. "I don't really know," he lied. "It's just an old human expression that I read in a book once. It basically means that this will be easy, so don't panic."

"Kid wiped out my entire squad in under a minute. I think there would be a lot of this 'sweat' here." A6 said.

"Oh look a ridiculously absurd robot school! Let's take a look." Noah not so subtly changed the subject as the three reached a building labeled 'ScHooL', which sat at the edge of the town. It was wooden and painted a light red. A little tower stuck out of the roof, and a circular clock that Noah had no idea how to read ticked away at the top.

"HeRE wE A- RiDiCuLOUSly aBsuRD?!" Flint turned towards Noah, who was already strolling inside. "I'LL HaVE yOU knOw THaT MAh teaCHinGs ArE ImpOrtAnT!"

"He doesn't represent all Scout models," A6 reassured Flint.

The inside of the building was one big room. Desks arranged in rows covered most of the ground, while a podium sat at the back in front of a chalkboard, which looked like it had just been wiped clean, all except for a little doodle of a machine holding a flower in the corner.

Along the sides of the room were triangular shaped windows that sat in the walls horizontally. Below them were several sets of mostly empty bookshelves. The books that sat on them were deteriorated, worn, and some were even scorched.

"Ah yes. Simple, straightforward…" Noah picked up a miniature chalkboard from one of the desks. "...and extraordinarily low tech and boring." He then turned to Flint and A6, who were walking up behind him. "But yes. The closest building to the shield. I assume there's a back door?"

"YeS." Flint answered, pointing to a door in the far right corner of the room. "ThAT LeADs TAh ThE StAIrWeLL An' tHe BAck DooR."

"Great. Now we just need to wait for Kid to show up." Noah paused. "Speaking of, when will that be?"

"Kid NeVeR LeT's aNYonE KnOw wHeN hE'S cOmIN'," Flint said. "He CouLD sHOw uP FiVe MinUTEs fRoM NoW, oR iN Ah wEEk."

Noah stared, trying to think of a reason an android wouldn't like the exhilarating process of waiting for hours on end. He couldn't wait a week, obviously, and he didn't like leaving his life up to sheer luck, even though it came down to that regularly.

"If Kid's intention was to use me as bait for other resistance members, than he should be here soon," A6 said, seeing Noah's unrest. "We shouldn't have to wait long."

"I'll… Go up into the tower and keep a lookout for him." Noah turned and walked towards the door.

"I HoPe tHE Resistance An' MuLLburY cAn LiVe iN PeAcE AftER aLL ThIS iS OvER," Flint said.

"I'm sure Demetree would love to talk to you," A6 replied.

"Yeah…" Noah opened the door, coming to a stairwell that led up. The stairs were a bit rickety looking, and creaked violently with every step, but they were intact enough to support his weight. He reached the top of the tower, which was just a five-foot-by-five-foot space with a rusty metal chair sitting in the middle. There was a sizable gap between the floor and the pyramid-shaped roof, which was only supported by two rotting wooden pillars, allowing Noah to see out across the desert in all directions.

Noah grabbed his hunting rifle off his back, pulled the chair up to the railing, and started to scan the horizon. He glanced at his hoverbike for a second, his stomach growling, before veering off to the side. Sand, sand, sand dune, back to sand. He had covered the entire circumference of his vision when out of nowhere a creepy grey face came into view, taking up the entire scope.

"Gah!" Noah jerked back slightly, blinked a couple times, then looked back through the scope, zooming out slightly. There was a large sphere, at least the size of a house, laying in the middle of the desert, and looked like something he'd see in a fever dream.

It had two pupiless eyes that were reminiscent of a machine's, two tiny black dots where the nose would be, and giant smile that crossed it's entire head. The smile's lips bent apart at an impossible angle, showing off an incredibly detailed but grey depiction of human teeth.

"What the actual fuck…" After a few minutes of observation, Noah determined that the creepy disembodied head didn't seem to be functional. He shook off the shiver in his spine and swept the area again. Aliens had some weird ass depictions of humanity.

A few hours passed, and the sun started to set, turning the few whisp-like clouds in the sky a brilliant orange pink. Noah kept looking around for anything approaching the town, but he never saw anything, and his gaze kept drifting back to the creepy head that he'd decided to name Bob.

Bob the Creepy Machine Head.

The sun had disappeared, leaving behind a red tint in the now dark sky, when Noah heard the clicking of heels against stairs behind him. He waited until the sound had reached the top before speaking. "Finally got bored of playing the piano?" Noah asked without turning around.

"No. I don't have my emotion chip turned on, remember?" A6 replied. "You should turn off yours as well. Demetree prohibited its use in the field for a reason."

"Sorry. Mine's… Broken. I can't turn it off." Noah gestured for the android to come closer, then handed her his rifle. "What do you make of that?"

A6 peered through the scope at Bob. "I've never seen anything like it," she said after a few seconds of staring.

"Me neither," Noah replied. "I think it's watching me."

A6 gave him yet another weird look. The same weird look she'd been giving him since he got here.

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" Noah asked.

"I apologize," A6 said, handing Noah his rifle. "I came up here to see if everything was okay. It appears that everything is going well."

"Yeah. Nothing's tried to kill me in a while, and the sands are extremely empty." Noah agreed. "The only thing wrong at this very moment is you."

"Hmm?" A6 inquired.

"Tell me, A6. Do you know how I came to live in the middle of the desert?" Noah asked.

"I only know what everyone says about you," she answered. "You're a malfunctioning Scout model who occasionally comes to help at the base."

"Well, they're not wrong," Noah said. "Did you know that decades ago there was another Resistance group stationed here?"

"No..." A6 cocked her head slightly.

"I was part of that group. We fought the machines, just like your group does. We even had a leader with a name, Maria. It was pretty sweet. We were organized, efficient, had everything we needed to function, and killed machines by the thousands." Noah glanced out into the desert, then propped his rifle up against the railing.

"It didn't last though. Thirteen Goliath class machines closed in on our base all at once, without warning. You'd think a machine as big as that wouldn't be able to sneak. It was the most intense battle I've ever been in. Androids were dropping left and right, explosions had leveled the base in under ten minutes, and Maria was dead in five." Noah smiled to himself.

"We managed to kill them though. All thirteen of the fuckers. But by the time we did so, there were only three of us left. Me, A12, and M9. After that, we agreed that it would only be a matter of time before we died as well, and we roamed the land destroying as many machines as we could. A12 did most of the killing, taking down the hardest targets. I, well, scouted, figuring out the enemy's positions and making sure we weren't up against something we couldn't handle. M9 kept us both alive using what remained of the base's medical supplies. And when those supplies ran dry, he used whatever he could find.

"I remember one time when I slipped up and got hit in the chest with an axe. It should have been fatal, but M9 repaired me with a few strands of copper, a hot glue gun, and duct tape. We survived for years like this, protecting each other. It was the same sort of thing we did in the Resistance, but it was somehow so much different. We cracked jokes, laughed, and played. I suppose that, well, we were family."

A6 blinked. "It didn't last, though, did it?"

"Nope," Noah replied. "The sand has a way of messing with my sensors sometimes. We were crossing this very desert during a sandstorm when I caught a small blip of something beneath us. Before I could tell A12 and M9, however, a giant worm-like machine burst from the ground right under M9. His signal went dead immediately, and the bottom half of him ended up landing next to me." Noah swallowed. "A12 was so mad. She lept in and started carving the machine up, and when her sword broke, she wrestled it, even though it was at least five times her size. A12 ended up flattening its head with her bare hands."

"That sounds-" A6 tried to say.

"It was the saddest thing I've ever seen." Noah replied. "After we lost M9, nothing was ever the same again. Despite how we felt, we never turned off our emotion chips, and carried that grief with us. I actually made the suggestion we do so, but A12 told me that if we didn't grieve, we weren't honoring M9, we were just forgetting him. She carried her emotions till the end." Noah turned away, realizing that tears were forming in his eyes.

"They're the reason I keep going. I think about them every night, and remember the good times we had. I owe it to them to live as long as I possibly can. A6, you just lost your entire squad. Do yourself and you dead comrades a favor, and stop putting that aside. Remember them for who they were, and remember why you fight this war."

A6 was silent for what seemed like forever. Then, she clenched her fist. "I… Don't understand."

Noah turned back to stare at her, then picked up his rifle, resuming his watch. "Then go die a lifeless husk."

After a little bit, Noah heard A6 turn around and walk back down the tower. Her footsteps were slow and dull. Once the sound had faded from his ears, he spoke. "And don't fucking say 'Turn off your emotions' ever again."


	5. Kid

Noah watched as the sun rose in front of him. It had been a long night of constant watch. His eyes hurt, and he was pretty sure that dark circles were forming beneath them. The cover story for that would be a weird one.

He watched the brilliant sunrise in front of him, the exhaustion from pulling an all nighter while watching out for a death robot making it all the more beautiful. Noah sighed in relief, leaning back in his chair.

"Another day, huh?" Noah turned to stare at the person who was now sitting beside him on a boulder. It was a woman, around thirty or so, who had short messy blonde hair. The right side of her face was covered by a massive burn scar, and the eye the scar surrounded was hidden with an eyepatch.

Despite wearing an old blue turtleneck sweater that was full of holes and tears, scrapped up black leather pants, and a beaten down composure, her right eye was open wide and shone like a diamond. "I find it ironic that such a beautiful thing carries sinister meaning."

"What do you mean, mother?" Noah asked, leaning back in his grass hammock.

"Apparently, during the war, the air became polluted with various noxious chemicals. The sunrise only looks like that pretty because of the sunlight shining through the gas." She answered. "And because of the gas, the Earth warmed up, causing this desert."

Noah's brow furrowed. "How does that work?"

"Hell if I know." His mother answered. "And it hardly matters. Right now, the only thing I'm wondering is how you could be so careless."

"Huh?" Noah said sitting back up.

"It's one mistake, you know." She scolded. "That's how your father died, it's how I died, and it's how you'll die if you don't get your broken act together this instant!"

Noah's mother slid down the boulder, walking over to stare him down. "Wake up before you stay asleep for good." She hissed.

Noah woke, once again seeing the sunrise. This time, however, he could feel the heat and wind on his face. He stared for a moment, too stunned to move, then quickly sat up and slammed his hands on the railing. "DAMMIT!"

He'd fallen asleep! His mother was right, how could he be so careless! What if Kid had rode in while he was out?!

"Who in the blazes was that?!" Noah heard a voice from below. It wasn't a machine voice. "You all hear that? Came from the tower."

Noah immediately laid down flat on the floor, then crawled to the edge of the tower to peak over the side. What he saw sent a chill down his spine.

The residents of Mullbury, including A6 and Flint, were all lined up in the center of the town. The 'children' were held close by their 'mothers', and everyone else was cowering in fear. Flint was now holding a cane, and was standing calm and composed in the center of the line. A6 stood beside him, her arms crossed and her eyes closed.

Surrounding them were machines, all wearing black bandanas, stetsons, and vests. Most of them were human sized, but there were two that were twice the size of the others and towered above them, both of which stood beside Kid. There were also a fair amount of flying machines, which were basically airborne air-hockey mallets with the bottom being a magnetic stabilizer (or at least that's what Noah assumed it was) and the handle being a body and head without arms with a single large turret attached to it.

Standing in the very center of the town, however, was an android. He wore a dark brown vest and chaps over a black dress shirt and blue jeans. A few eagle feathers decorated his black stetson, which hid his face from view. Noah was pretty damn sure this was Kid.

" _Definitely heard something._ " Said one of the two giant robots.

" _Yeah._ " Replied the other. " _I heard a mouse. Do you think it wants cheese?_ "

Kid muttered something to himself, then gestured to two of the flying machines. " _You two! Check the clock tower, and while you're at it have some of the little ones search the building._ "

There wasn't time to think, just to act.

Noah rolled to his feet, grabbed his rifle, slung it over his back, ran to the side of the tower that was facing away from the center of the town, jumped onto the railing, then grabbed and pulled himself onto the pyramid shaped roof. It was time to get lucky. Again.

He heard the soft ' _whirr_ ' of the flying machines as they flew up to the platform were Noah had been. " _You take top, I'll watch bottom._ " One stated.

The _whirr_ suddenly grew closer to Noah's right, and he shifted to the left, careful not to knock any of the roof tiles free. The machine paused for a second, then started circling around towards Noah's left. Noah shifted back to the right, then ended up moving over twice more to avoid detection. Once the machine had made a full circle of the roof, it paused. Then it lowered itself back down.

The clanking of metal feet could be heard coming up the stairwell, then they stopped.

" _Boss going crazy again?_ " One of the machines asked.

" _Boss going crazy again._ " Another confirmed. " _There wasn't even a bird this time._ "

Noah smiled in relief before realizing that he was now on the side of the roof that was facing the inside of the town. He moved back to the back side of the roof and waited for the clanking to die down and the _whirr_ ing fade, signifying that the machines had left the tower. Once confirming that they had indeed left by hanging his head over the edge, Noah swung back down onto the platform at the top of the tower.

He silently made his way down into the classroom, passed between the desks, and took up a position beneath one of the schools door-side windows. Here, he could observe Kid and make sure he didn't miss his opportunity to get out of here.

"Nothing? Really?" Kid shook his head at the two flying machines, then started slowly walking down the line of Mullbury residents. Noah could now see that Kid had a black mustache and goatee, but that was hardly his most prominent feature. Most of the right side of Kid's face had been melted off, revealing part of the grey metal exoskeleton that sat beneath his artificial skin. His right eye was not grey or glassy, but instead a black mesh of fragile looking mechanical parts that centered in on a glowing red pupil.

"I guess this is what I get for getting my hopes up again." Kid said, then stopped in front of Flint and pointed accusingly. "Don't you even ask. I'm sick of your disapproving stare."

"MaH FaCe dOEsn'T DiSplAy EmoTioN. YoU rEAdinG iT As DiSApprOvAL sAyS A LoT AbOUt YoU." Flint answered.

"Oh yes! Look at me! I'm an android who's trying to use emotions!" Kid said, waving his hands in the air mockingly, then leaning down to stare into Flints eye's. "That's what you think, isn't it?"

"YoU ArE NoT BeYOnD HeLp." Flint replied.

Kid continued to stare for a moment, then drew back. "Allow me to prove you wrong." The android abruptly turned and walked further down the line, then stopping in front of a machine who had a pink bow attached to the top of her(?) head.

"I know you've been withholding repair supplies Carroll. I've allowed it so far, but me and my boys have hit a rough spot. Give them to me. Now." Kid threatened.

" _What? We gave you the last of our supplies a month ago. We've been over this._ " Carroll replied.

"Yes, and after much consideration," Kid grabbed Carroll by the collar, his fingers digging into her metal shell. "I've decided that you're lying."

" _Ow. Ow! OWWW!_ " Carroll cried out, her voice becoming a high pitched whine.

" _Let go of her!_ " One of the other machines, a man(?) wearing a white stetson, vest, and boots that did not fit, yelled. He half ran half waddled over and launched himself at Kid.

Without looking, Kid kicked to the side, sending the machine spiraling through the air in the other direction. When it landed, Noah could see that the left side of the machines face had been caved in, and it's eye was sparking.

" _Daddy! No!_ " One of the smaller machines cried out. It then turned, preparing to charge Kid as well.

Flint, faster than Noah had thought possible on his short stubby legs, suddenly darted over to the child, grabbing it's arm and holding it back. He then looked to Kid. "KiD! StoP!"

"Oh? Is that an order Mr. Flint?" Kid countered. "You going to send me to detention if I don't?"

" _Let go of mommy!_ " The child screamed, jerking around in Flint's grasp.

"KiD. PleaSE." Flint said in a somehow pleading tone.

Kid rolled his eye's. "Fine." He said, releasing Carroll.

Carroll fell to the ground with a metallic thump. She then quickly hobbled over to the machine laying on the ground, picking up his stetson as she went.

" _You're going to be okay._ " She said, helping him to his feet.

" _Me? What about you?_ " The machine replied, looking at the dents on Carroll where Kid had grabbed her.

" _I'm a lot better off than you._ " Carroll said, placing the stetson back onto her husband's head. " _Can you see out o-_ "

Kid, who had turned his back and was walking away, suddenly spun around, whipped out a long shiny silver revolver, and fired. Everyone watched in horror, unable to move, as the two machines in the center of the town collapsed, a hole blown through both of them. What remained of two black data cubes landed a way's away, tumbling to a halt.

Everyone looked on in shock. Even A6, who had her mouth slightly agape. While everyone was stunned, Kid holstered his weapon, faced Flint, and held his arms out to the side in a bragging manner before bowing. "Didn't feel a damn thing."

" _HA!... HA!... HA!... HA!..._ " All the bandits in the area started a loud, mocking and monotonous laugh.

" _NO!_ " The child shook free of Flints grasp, waddling quickly over to the lifeless husks that were now it's parents.

"Bastard." Noah muttered, grabbing his rifle from his back.

"I swear. It's like you want to die." Noah heard a voice behind him. He turned to see his mother standing at the other end of the classroom. She had picked up a piece of chalk and was drawing something. "Don't tell me that you actually feel for those things?"

"I just witnessed the cold-blooded murder of two parents in front of their child." Noah stated quietly.

"Thats absurd." His mother stated, making the last mark on the board to finish the drawing. "You know just as well as I do that everything they feel is synthetic." She walked to the right side of the board, revealing that the drawing was Noah's dead body lying in a ditch.

"Robots, on both sides, cannot feel emotion." Noah's mother said, slamming her hand down on the sketch of a machine with a flower and rubbing it out. "They are artificially made and programmed. They are lifeless abominations that lead to our species downfall. You dare feel for them? You dare think they can have families and emotions like us?" She accused.

Noah winced at her words, looking away back towards the sad scene that had just unfolded in the middle of the town. The bandits were still laughing along with Kid, who was giving Flint a challenging look.

"In the end, we're just weapons made to kill, Flint. Did you forget that? How you lot drove the human race to the moon?" Kid taunted.

Noah looked back towards his mother, only to find that she was gone. The chalkboard was untouched, and the small sketch of a machine holding a flower was still there, staring back at him. He shook his head, wiping the sweat from his brow.

The child parted with it's parents bodies and charged Kid, swinging it's arms wildly as it went.

Kid reached out his hand, and the child ran into it. As soon as they collided, the laughter from the bandits stopped. The child tried to continue forward, but to no avail.

" _You bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!_ " The child screamed, resulting in Flint shifting uncomfortably.

"You see, Flint? This sums up this town perfectly." Kid said, gesturing to the child. "Utter disappointment. Come to think of it, it's been months since we've started this little thing, hasn't it?"

" _You killed my parents! Murderer! Monster!_ " The child continued to scream.

"Hmmm. Yeah. I agree." Kid said to himself. "This little experiment is ov-"

 **BANG!**

Kid's head jerked forward from the impact of a bullet. There wasn't a second's pause as all the bandits turned towards the school. The two giant machines slammed their fists together, but before they could take a step forward, Kid raised his hand into the air. "Wait!" He ordered. He then lowered his hand to the back of his head and pulled the crumpled remains of the bullet from his scalp. "How the hell did you evade our sensors?"

Noah exited the schoolhouse. He pulled on the action, causing a spent cartridge to fly from the gun and fall to the wooden porch. "Fuck you, that's how."

"S4? What are you doing?!" A6 shouted.

Kid spun around to face Noah and smiled. "A Scout model then? Perhaps this wasn't so worthless after all. Advance models were easy to dispatch, so let's hope you bring something new to the table."

"After what you just pulled? I'd be more than happy to show you the tricks I've got hidden up my sleeve." Noah countered, eyeing the positions of the nearest bandits. "Shall we get started?"

"Oh? Confident we can take the entire group are we? I like it." Kid said, his smile growing wider. "But I'm not looking for a battle. I'm looking for a duel."

Noah paused, his eyes narrowing behind his goggles. "What are you suggesting and why should I listen?"

"I'm suggesting a little something out of the storybooks." Kid replied. "High noon. You, me, and our pistols. Center of the town facing away from each other. Take ten paces, then turn and fire. No outside interference. That presents a pretty good opportunity for you to kill me one on one, now doesn't it?"

Noah paused again. This time he looked towards the residents of Mullbury, who were all staring at him in fear. He looked at the bandits, who were all waiting for him to say 'no' so that they could tear him to pieces. He looked at the bodies of Carroll and her husband laying next to each other in a final forced embrace.

But his gaze finally fell upon A6, who had come to stand next to Flint. She was trying, and failing, to keep still. Her eyes were almost constantly locked on Kid, and her fingers were twitching. After seeing this, Noah pulled his scarf over his mouth and took a deep, steady breath. Then, he pulled it back down and smiled wickedly.

"You drive a hard bargain. I accept."


End file.
